SC-appointed administrators ask court to remove top BCCI officials
BCCI
The officials which the COA wants to remove include acting president CK Khanna and secretary Amitabh Choudhary
The Committee of Administrators (CoA) of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Wednesday asked the Supreme Court to remove top officials of the cricket board for not complying with the Lodha Panel reforms.
In a scathing status report submitted to the top court, the two-member COA - comprising of Vinod Rai and Diana Edulji - asked the "governance, management and administration" of the board be handed over to them along with a professional group headed by CEO Rahul Johri till the elections are held.
The officials which the COA wants to remove include acting president CK Khanna and secretary Amitabh Choudhary.
In the fifth Status Report, the COA also sought the removal of treasurer Aniruddh Chaudhry.
In the 26-page report, the COA stated that CK Khanna, Amitabh Choudhary and Aniruddh Chaudhry should be removed just like former BCCI president Anurag Thakur and secretary Ajay Shirke, who were ousted for failing to ensure the implementation of the Lodha Panel reforms.
"...It is only fair that the current office-bearers be treated in the same manner because a further period of six months have elapsed since the said office-bearers submitted their undertakings and reforms mandated by Hon'ble Court have still not been implemented.
"It is clear that current office-bearers are not in position to make good on their undertakings and ensure that reforms mandated by this Hon'ble Court is implemented."
The COA also mentioned that the Supreme Court order on July 24 was "deliberately misconstrued" during the BCCI's Special General Meeting (SGM) on July 26 where office-bearers asked CEO Rahul Johri, the administrative staff and the legal team to leave the meeting.
The report states that DDCA administrator, Justice (Retd) Vikramjit Sen, also pointed out during the SGM that the BCCI was "acting contrary" to the Lodha Committee Report.
The COA states that the BCCI treated the Supreme Court's neutral stand on the matter "to bring in a series of issues aimed at unravelling the core of the reforms mandated including disqualifications of office-bearers, constitution of Apex Council, clear demarcation of functions, powers, duties and obligations between professional management and apex council."